page 6
daily nebraskan
thursday, february 8, 1979
s j
Photo by Ted Kirk
William Erskine, NU vice-president for administration, takes a moment to reflect on a question posed by a member
of the legislature's Appropriations Committee.
NU requests funds
to 'win gamble'
The university gambled last year when it spent $2
million it had saved from state geneial fund money over
several years, and officials went before the Legislature
Wednesday to try and win the gamble.
The money was spent on a salary increase for faculty
members in fiscal year 1978-79 to supplement the operat
ing budget and to correct an error in a legislative estimate
of money in revolving funds.
William Lrskine. executive vice president of administra
tion for NU, explained that the university incorporated
the money into its operating budget, and needs to have $2
million "appropriated to keep the budget base the same
as this year's budget is based on.
NU President Ronald Roskens explained the situation
this way:
If he were paying a person $100 a year, and then dis
covered that he only had S50, he could borrow the money
to pay his employee. The next year the employee would
expect $100 in pay, but Roskens still only has $50 in
his budget for that purpose.
The person he borrowed the money from the
first year was not around anymore. Roskens said he would
have to go elsewhere (like the Legislature) to get the $50.
or would have to cut back in another part of his budget.
When NU decided to spend the money last year, Ros
kens said they communicated with members of the Ap
propriations Committee and then Gov. J. James Exon,
and told them NU would be back to try to get the $2
million appropriated in next year's budget.
"The request is no surprise, and it's no sure thing
either," Roskens said. "We do not want to engage in any
game playing," he told the committee.
Erskine told the committee NU is obligated to spend
the money because it is already figured in the budget.
Roskens said if the Legislature does not appropriate the
money, it will not necessarily mean faculty members will
not get their 6.5 percent raise.
"None of these requests are sure things now," Roskens
said.
East Campus projects top NU construction requests
By Randy Essex
UNL East Campus projects rate first
and fourth in NU capital construction
budget requests heard by the Legislature's
Appropriations Committee Wednesday.
First on the list of projects is a chiller
unit for the East Campus power plant, and
fourth is renovation of the Agriculture
Engineering building, which has been un
changed for more than 50 years.
Renovation of Bessey Hall is ranked
sixth on the priority list, the first project
on the City Campus. UNL Chancellor Roy
Young told the committee only about 20
percent of the building is usable now.
NU is requesting $9,443,800 to finance
30 projects.
Regent Chairman Robert Koefoot told
the senators it would have been easy to
justify much more and the university re
quested only the essentials.
NU President Ronald Roskens said the
priorities submitted to the Legislature
represent legitimate needs and absolute
requirements.
Roskens said the priorities were
developed first by chancellors of the
various campuses, then by administrators
on an overall university basis. The regents
reviewed the priorities and made the final
recommendation.
NU Chancellor Roy Young said the
priorities are as close to being agreed upon
by the various chancellors as they can be.
Two of the projects met with objections
during the hearing. John Parsons, repre
senting ASUN, told the committee ASUN
does not think renovation of the Temple
Theatre building was given high enough
priority. The project ranks 21st on the list.
Parsons said the building has been con
demned every year since 1948 by the State
Fire Marshall. He called the building a dis
grace and an embarrassment to the campus.
Parsons said the project will cost more the
longer it is put off.
Mrs. Norman Batt of Omaha appeared
to protest the acquisition of four acres of
land by UNO. Mrs. Batt said the land is not
needed because enrollment has been far
below its projection.
She said enrollment is 5,000 below pro
jections. The land UNO wants to acquire,
Mrs. Batt said, is in the area determined by
a UNO study to be the best place to live in
Omaha.
UNO land aquisition rates 11th on the
list.
Del Weber, UNO chancellor, argued for
the other projects in the request.
Calling the campus "overbuilt and under
utilized," Weber asked approval of an
energy management system that would
enable officials to tell where energy losses
are coming from. The system would
monitor energy used on the campus by
computer.
Weber said the system would pay for it
self in five years through energy savings.
Third on the priority list is an
emergency generator for the Medical
Center hospital. Tom Smith, executive
director for business and finance at the
Med Center, said the hospital lacks
accreditation from the Joint Hospital Com
mission because of a deficiency in its emer
gency generator system.
The generator would cost $300,000.
Smith and Chancellor Neil Vanselow said
the hospital would be able to provide
electricity in needed areas if public power
went out, but air would not move through
the building.
Costs for other projects are :
-Bessy Hall convesion, $1,000,000
-East Campus chiller, $1,100,000
-Ag engineering renovation,
$1,200,000
-UNL land aquisition, $254,000
-Westbrook Music Library, $165,000
-Curtis Animal Holding facility,
$215,000
ASUN . . .
Continued from Page 1
Another request in the budget would begin to phase
out tuition payments for graduate students working as
teaching assistants.
Young said NU is the only college he has ever been as
sociated with that charges tuition for those students. The
budget requests S141 .310 for that tuition waiver.
This year's request would remit 25 percent of the tui
tion to teaching assistants. Tuition payment would be
phased out in four years. Roskens said.
The budget also requests $200,000 to help attract
quality senior faculty members to NU. Roskens said
senior faculty members of national status bring with them
a track record of research, allowing the university to in
crease the number of grants it is awarded.
Other quality professors would also be attracted to NU
by the nationally-known people, as well as attracting qual
ity graduate students, Roskens said.
Also included in the budget request is $50,000 for
electronic blackboards, which would allow the university
to transmit its classes to other points in the state.
Roskens said the blackboards will allow the university
to reach points in outstate Nebraska in a short period of
time.
He said the blackboards are far less expensive than
closed circuit television, which he said he once thought
was the ultimate in remote teaching tools.
Pay increases to university employees were requested
at 6.5 percent, the amount requested by Thone for all
state employees.
Roskens said the budget request is actually about $2
million less than Si 24.092.069 presented to the commit
tee. He said the first figure was reached when the univer
sity wanted to give employees an 8.5 percent pay raise.
Also included in the request is $189749 tor State Stu
dent Incentive Grants. Roskens said the SSIG has never
been given a specific allocation, and the university draw
on tuition remission to supply the money to students.
The total budget proposal, including money generated
from tuition and other funds not coming from the state's
general fund is $310,376,231 for the fiscal year 1979-80.
E Sg "fp g -
.... , Photo by Ted Kirk
NU President Ronald Roskens testifies at the legislature s Appropriations Committee budget hearing.